The Cardinals’ $455 million state-of-the-art is being hailed as one of the top 10 sporting structures in the world. The new In addition to a retractable roof, it contains the first completely retractable field in the United States. Retractable roof

BIRDS NEST Retractable field

BRUNEL TRUSSES: ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW: TRANSLUCENT ROOF: WALL OF FANS: Two trusses made from Belgian steel hold up the stadium’s 5,600-ton roof. In February 2005, the trusses and World-renowned architect Peter Eisenman, in partnership with HOK Sport and The retractable panels and much of the roof are made of At the stadium’s two retractable roof panels were raised using eight high-powered hydraulic jacks mounted on four supercolumns Hunt Construction Group, created a design for the stadium that mixed design a translucent fabric called Birdair that enables light to entrance will be a inside the stadium. The lift, said to be the heaviest in North America, was done by Mammoet, a company that excellence and ultimate fan comfort. The stadium’s exterior was desiged to penetrate and gives the venue an open, airy feel. mural in the shape Retractable roof specializes in ultraheavy lifts. look like a barrel cactus with metal panels intended to reflect the desert. of the Cardinals Many sports have retractable roofs, but logo made up of photos from the Cardinals Stadium is the only venue in the United States first 16,000 season or Europe to have a retractable roof that rides along an ticket holders. arc. To keep the air-conditioned stadium cool, the roof will remain closed when it’s hot outside. It takes about 12 minutes to completely move the roof. Concrete LENGTH HEIGHT WIDTH WEIGHT supercolumn 700 feet 87 feet 17 feet 1,800 tons Size of each photo: Each roof panel weighs All of the cable-drum drives 4 inches by 6 inches 1.1 million pounds and is are linked by fiber optics Who is Brunel? covered in Birdair, a and are constantly A world-famous engineer, Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel lived in England from 1806 to 1859 and became translucent fabric. synchronized to ensure renowned for his innovative approach to building bridges, tunnels, viaducts, rail lines and steam ships. even cable tension at all 1 The panels move at 4 mph times. to ensure control and safety. When the panels are open, it exposes the entire playing Bull gear, attached Eight panel trusses make up the Four of each panel’s field. Size of the roof to the cable drum and metal framework that connects transporters are powered opening is 240 feet wide by rotated by the motors the roof with the transporters by engines that use cable- 360 feet long. drum drives to winch the Cable drum with grooves panels along eight cables. that grip and advance the cable

Each panel rides on the Motor and brake curved roof rails via eight transporters. Transporter girder, wheel behind girder

Rail

Rail girder Once the field is in position, panels are placed between Cables the field and the risers, closing the gap. Goalposts are then put in place and the final Cable trough field preparations are made. The transporter: Rides along the rail girder, NATURAL LIGHT/ allowing the roof SCENIC VIEWS: to open and close 21 vertical slots on the exterior wall of the stadium let in natural light and There will be one video 13 rails guide the offer spectators a scoreboard at each end of field in and out 360-degree view of the field. This one will be the of the stadium. largest in the state at 96 feet the surrounding area. wide by 27 feet tall; three times the size of the board at Sun Devil Stadium. Brunel truss

The field tray slides in and out of the stadium under a To see a time-lapse video of 1 MAIN-LEVEL 4 2 -foot gap between the the retractable field in motion, ground and the stadium. The SEATS: Linear bearing: Allows the gap is covered by a series of visit www.eastvalleytribune.com panel trusses to sway metal doors that open like garage doors. 30,000 Seats (pictured) are 19 inches wide, molded Transporter link, which connects plastic with cup holders. seven sets of transporters Always on track, the panel on each roof panel truss can shift up to Retractable field Rest easy CLUB-LEVEL 18 inches while moving - Distance the tray will travel from outside to inside the stadium One of the most unique features of the stadium is a completely The stadium’s seating SEATS: 741 feet retractable natural grass playing field — the first of its kind in the capacity is about 63,400 7,501 Panel United States. The field will spend most of its time outside for Cardinals games and truss Seats are 21 inches wide, Linear receiving sunlight and water until game day when it will be rolled is expandable to about padded with cup holders. Transporter bearing inside. It takes about 60 minutes to completely move the field. 73,000 for larger events Rail Rail girder TERRACE-LEVEL such as the SEATS: The natural grass is called Root zone The field is contained and . (10 inches) and Tifway 419, a Bermuda 23,000 Brunel grass (2 inches) hybrid, which is used on in an 18.9 million-pound truss some golf courses. tray that is 234 feet Seats are 19 inches wide, wide by 403 feet long molded plastic with cup by 40 inches deep. holders. Plastic drainage mat (2 inches deep) The playing field is approximately 94,000 LOFTS: Concrete slab square feet (over (5 inches deep) 2 acres). 88 Drainpipe 542 steel wheels slide The luxury loft Corrugated steel the field into the 1 amenities include stadium at 11 2 feet per preferred parking, an minute. exclusive entrance, private restrooms, 76 one-horsepower Wheel assembly multiple televisions ANGLE OF STADIUM: motors (total = 76 hp) and catering. The are connected to a The stadium is aligned along a slight per-season cost of switch at the end of the a loft is between northwest-to-southeast axis to offer the One-horsepower motor field. maximum sun exposure for the grass field $65,000 and $125,000 Steel frame (18 inches deep) depending on size and and maximum shade for patrons. A few inches of water location. Also included Three-inch gap will remain in the tray are 16 to 20 padded between the frame while the field is in play seats that are 21 and the ground to keep the grass moist. inches wide, each with SPORTSMAN’S PARK: its own cup holder While the field is The 160-acre area surrounding the stadium includes parking, Irrigation piping and adjacent table to grass areas and other open space. Of the 20 acres of turf, 8 acres and in-ground outside, the put food, etc. have been called the Great Lawn, which stretches over 1,000 feet, to be sprinkler heads 152,000-square-foot concrete stadium oor, used for tailgating and other activities. with an embedded utility grid, can be used 13 tracks embedded in the concrete Geotextile fabric: Densely woven material for conventions, guide the eld in and out of the stadium that only allows water to penetrate concerts, sports, etc. SOURCES: ; Hunt Construction Group; Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority; Joe Rhein Consulting Group; CMX Sports Engineers Graphic by Scott Kirchhofer, Scott Sheils, Gabriel Utasi; Photos by Ralph Freso/TRIBUNE $455M 63,400 14,000 310 50 10 18 1,250 2,300 3,500 $400M Total cost of the Appoximate seating capacity Parking spaces on site Fixed locations for fans Restrooms Elevators Escalators Trees planted Valley homes that could be cooled Jobs added during the Estimated annual economic stadium complex for Cardinals games and 12,000 more within one mile to purchase food and beverages around the venue by the stadium’s air conditioning on a game day construction phase of the stadium benefits to the area